Dc cooking appliance

Abstract

A DC powered cooking appliance which uses an induction or a resistance based DC heating element and excludes AC powered heating elements and preferably does not rely on directly connected combustion powered heating elements. Some embodiments include wattage of 1500 watts or less, voltages of 40 or 48 volts or more and are installed on a boat, van, rv or bus such that an inverter of that boat, van, rv or bus is not electrically connected to the cooking appliance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cooking appliance configured to heat a cooking surface comprising:
 a controller for receiving a heat setting;   a direct current (DC) powered heating element;   wherein the cooking appliance is configured to connect to a source of DC electrical potential of at least 40 volts;   wherein activation of the DC powered heating element by the controller is configured to heat the cooking surface according to the heat setting;   wherein the cooking appliance excludes an alternating current (AC) powered heating element and excludes a combustion heating element.   
     
     
         2 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the cooking appliance is configured to be powered without a DC to alternating current (AC) conversion device positioned electrically between the source of DC electrical potential and the housing. 
     
     
         3 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a housing,   wherein the DC powered heating element is positioned in the housing.   
     
     
         4 . The cooking appliance of  claim 3  wherein the controller comprises a keypad or dial for receiving the heat setting, the keypad or dial being accessible from an exterior of the housing. 
     
     
         5 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the DC powered heating element includes an induction coil. 
     
     
         6 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the controller is a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller. 
     
     
         7 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the source of DC potential is a battery charged by a charger connected to an alternator. 
     
     
         8 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the source of DC potential is at least 48 volts. 
     
     
         9 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  further comprising a temperature sensor in contact with a cooking element having the cooking surface thereon and the controller controls a temperature of the cooking surface based on readings from the temperature sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein a maximum wattage rating of the cooking appliance is in a range of 800-1800 watts. 
     
     
         11 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the cooking appliance is configured to be installed on or in a vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . The cooking appliance of  claim 11  wherein the vehicle is one of a boat, car, van, RV, or golf cart. 
     
     
         13 . The cooking appliance of  claim 11  wherein the vehicle is battery powered electric vehicle and the cooking appliance is connected to a battery of the vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . The cooking appliance of  claim 11  wherein the vehicle is a hybrid vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  further comprising a glass top which is configured to support the cooking surface and the DC powered heating element comprises an induction coil which is positioned below the glass top. 
     
     
         16 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the controller is selected from the group consisting of a manual knob and a touch sensitive control. 
     
     
         17 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the controller is connected to a circuit board to regulate the voltage output to the DC powered heating element. 
     
     
         18 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the controller outputs an alternating square wave to the induction heating element. 
     
     
         19 . The cooking appliance of  claim 1  wherein the source of DC electrical potential is one of a solar panel or wind generator.